Obituaries

A memorial service was held Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Bond Memorial Chapel in Mt. Juliet for Mr. Freeman, 55, of Mt. Juliet.The US Army veteran died Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.Bond Memorial Chapel was in charge of arrangements.

Services for Mr. Sisco, 49 of Lebanon, were held Tuesday, Jan. 31, at Hunter Funeral Home in Watertown.The Smith County native died Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 at University Medical Center.Interment was at Cedar Grove Cemetery.Hunter Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Durham, 66, died Jan. 29, 2012.The family will be receiving friends at Sellars Funeral Home in Lebanon Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. and on Thursday from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. service. Sellars Funeral Home, 313 W. Baddour Parkway, is in charge of arrangements.

Services for Mrs. McClanahan will be 2 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria.Born in Watertown, Mrs. McClanahan, 91, died Jan. 28, 2012, at University Medical Center.Interment will be in the Hillview Cemetery. Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria is in charge of arrangements.

A graduate of Castle Heights Military Academy and Middle Tennessee State University, Mr. Bell was a partner and later owner of Bell Oil Company. He launched Git-N-Go convenience stores locally and brought the Krystal Drive-Thru to Lebanon.

In the 1980s he was an appointed member of the Private Industry Council by Governor Lamar Alexander -- whose campaign for Governor Bill successfully launched from Wilson County.

Upon retirement, he obtained his Realtors license and was associated with Agee & Johnson Realty. He was a member of Wilson County Association of Realtors where he was awarded the Silver Award of Excellence for three years.

Mr. Bell was a member of Lebanon Jaycees, past president of Lebanon Golf & Country Club, past President of Wilson County Chamber of Commerce, a member of Lebanon Kiwanis Club and attended the Community Bible Class at College Hills Church of Christ where he was a member for over 50 years.

Services sere held Sunday afternoon, Jan. 29 at Sellars Funeral Home in Lebanon. for Mr. Williams, 96.Born in Charleston W.V., he died Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012.Lebanon's Sellars Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Ask Ken Beck

Dear Ken: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr., who spoke that great line, Show me the money! to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, whats he been doing lately?

Gooding, 44, who was born in The Bronx, N.Y., stars as pipe-smoking Major Emanuelle Stance in the current movie Red Tails. Coincidentally, he starred in the 1995 TV movie The Tuskegee Airmen, the exact subject of Red Tails. Last year, the actor starred in Ticking Clock, The Hit List and Sacrifice. He stars this summer in the thriller One in the Chamber. Of his current war film, on which filmmaker George Lucas spent $58 million of his own money to produce, Gooding says, Visually, you really feel youre in these cockpits. Some of the dog fights in this movie really feel like the same thing that we had in Star Wars. I think the only difference is that all of the actors in the cockpits are black, except for the Nazis, the Germans trying to shoot them out of the sky.

General Lifestyle

Are there languages within languages? I heard this phrase the other day and began wondering. Next thing I knew I was writing you! Thanking you in advance for your answer.

-Impulsive Correspondent

As long as thats not impulsive co-respondent, as in a divorce case where feelings run high and guns are waved, Im happy to reply. Well, I could be leaving the wrong impression here. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a femme fatale or even a hot babe. Pause for some pouting and whimpering.

When Lebanon-born Bonnie Sloanwas drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973, he barely could speak words to express his joy.

However, the Austin Peay State University All-Ohio Valley Conference defensive tackle, who became the first deaf player in the National Football League, had volumes to say once he stepped on the gridiron and let his actions do his talking.

I was so surprised and shocked, said the Hendersonville resident today when recalling his being drafted in the tenth round by the Cardinals.

Going from the collegiate arena to play with the greatest football players in the world was intimidating, even for the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Sloan.

The NFL players were big, bigger than any I have ever played with. I was used to being the biggest guy.These guys were bigger, stronger, meaner, Sloan, 63, said over the course of two interviews, one via email and the other in person with his daughter, Amy Sloan, interpreting.

The tackle made history on Sept. 16, 1973, when he ran on the field in Philadelphia as the first deaf man to play the game that has become the most popular professional sport in the land. At the age of 25, it was exhilarating for the rookie tackle to be a starter for the Cardinals in the battle versus the Eagles.

Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day, according to Wikipedia.

Alice Henneman, extension educator from the University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension, suggests some great steps to help make your Super Bowl a healthy one.By thinking like a football player on the playing field, we can all have a great time watching the game while sharing healthy snacks. Only instead of the opposing team, your field is filled with food and refreshments. Here are eight winning strategies:

"My Bid" by Joe Biddle

Earlier in his career the former Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt golfer would find ways to lose tournaments on Sunday.

Snedeker has managed to come roaring out of the pack on the final round to win three tournaments.

None will go down in history as more improbable than what Snedeker pulled off Sunday in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in sunny Southern California.

It wasnt so much what Snedeker did, as it was what 24-year-old former Clemson golfer Kyle Stanley didnt do.

I have watched and covered a lot of golf tournaments through the years. None had a more bizarre finish than the chapter Stanley wrote.

Stanley came to the final hole with a three-stroke lead over Snedeker, whose birdie on the final hole left him alone in second place and in the media tent going over his tournament with Stanley still on the course.

You know what happened. Stanley shot a snowman, an 8 in golf parlance. Eight strokes on the par-five. In the water on his third shot. Back of the green on his fifth shot. Two putts to get his ball in the cup and claim his first PGA Tour win.

Stanley 3-jacked the green and Snedeker shockingly found himself paired against Stanley in a sudden death playoff.

Snedeker has a knack of pulling these Sunday stunners. He came from five shots back to win his first Tour event in 2007 with a 63 at the Wyndham.

Last year, he fired a final round 64 to make up six shots, knocking off the No. 1 golfer in the world, Luke Donald, at the Heritage.

Sunday he pushed the envelope to a 7-shot deficit, only to get unexpected help from Stanley and make Snedekers 67 put him in the playoff.

Snedeker has had his share of Sunday heartbreaks during his career. No one can forget the 2008 Masters. After an eagle on the second hole, Snedeker grabbed a share of the lead. Could this be a signature win, his first major? Eight bogeys later, we had the answer.

Snedekers emotions got away from him that day in the interview room afterwards. He choked back tears, could not get his words out. He covered his face with a towel, sobbing. It was heart-wrenching to see the pain in his face.

But even Snedeker had never lost a tournament the way Stanley did, triple-bogeying the final hole when he had led the tournament from the first day until the final hole.

I havent quite done one like that yet, Snedeker admitted, but Ive had a couple where I really had some devastating finishes. You never want to see anybody go through that. not even your worst enemy on the planet.

It was only Snedekers second start of the season, having left the Tour last fall to have a second hip operation Nov. 1. He was born with a congenital condition that would eventually require surgery on both hips. Two months ago, Snedeker was still relying on crutches to navigate around Nashville.

Media looked at the finish and made the story Stanleys collapse, which it was. But it was also about a 31-year-old Brandt Snedeker who found a way to win what would be a two-hole playoff.

Im not sure there has ever been an ending where the champion conducted a media interview about his runner-up finish, then an hour later re-appeared in the media tent with a trophy.

Round two, Snedeker informed the media.

Someone in the media called his victory tainted.

Snedeker bristled.

If anybody wants to see the trophy, it will be at my house the rest of my life, Snedeker smiled. Its not tainted at all. Winning out here is hard to do.

Guest Column

People came from all over the United States and three foreign countries to Birchwood, Tenn., to see the rare Asian Hooded Crane. Only three sightings of this large charcoal gray bird have ever been recorded in the United States.

Since the emigrant usually lives in Korea and Japan, to get from there to the States would be quite a feat of flying not to mention the navigation required to get back and forth.

Since the Sandhill Crane, a close relative, summers in Siberia it would not be inconceivable that the similar appearing and habitat minded Crane could link up with the Sandhills on their journey to the warmer wintering grounds in Tennessee.

Letters to the Editor

Three cheers for District 46 State Rep. Mark Pody for representing the people in his district. Unlike the former Representative (Stratton Bone), who pandered to the teachers and the teachers union, Representative Pody should have known he was wasting his time talking to the teachers.

The teachers vote for who the union tells them to vote for and its not the Party that Rep. Pody belongs to. But he tried.

The regular folks need someone to watch over their tax money. The Wilson County Board of Education is not! The education budget in Wilson County and Lebanon is draining the taxpayers dry. So Mr. Pody, you keep up the good work.

I would like to thank the Lebanon City Council for their no vote on the Cumberland Center that Mayor Philip Craighead has introduced. I was of the idea that the council might actually vote in favor of progress but I was glad to see that the same councilors who has tried diligently to deny us a community eager for progress and growth that at least are still showing their lack of foresight and willingness to do whatever it takes to grow our community!

The councilors position takes more than showing up at work sessions and at council meetings. It takes the dedication to do whatever background work it takes to understand any issue or any project that would help us grow our community. It is also the task of the Mayor and city council to see that the general public knows what is going on in every aspect of a future project.

I do have reservations for a hockey team here in Lebanon, but at the same time I can see that a convention center could be a draw to our community for smaller venues that do not want to make use of the convention center in Nashville.

The retail and commercial aspects of the project would be a vital addition to our community. We are way behind the ball in growth compared to Murfreesboro and Franklin and even Mt. Juliet, our neighboring community here in Wilson County.

To the council I must ask the question: Do you so hate the fact that Mayor Craighead came up with this idea that you will sacrifice our communitys ability to promote growth and continue to bring larger and more progressive companies with more and more jobs that will bring more tax dollars into our community?

The answer most assuredly must be yes!

Shame on you, councilors, for your lack of foresight and your blatant disregard for the needs of your community, this is sad indeed. Just because of a personal vendetta against the mayor, you have once again killed a vital source of growth.

Once again I am ashamed of our council and I feel sick at heart for our beloved Lebanon. As long as we have these folks on the council we will never make any sizeable commitment to growth, and that will continue to make us the backwoods community of this area. I had hoped for so much more from our City Council, but I guess I will eventually learn better!

When I enrolled in the first grade, 65 years ago, I had to present a birth certificate. My parents used my hospital birth certificate which contained my name, birth date, feet prints, the names of my parents and their place of birth, my mothers finger print and the place of my birth. It also had a large, embossed gold seal and several signatures.

I used that same birth certificate when registering for my Social Security number, applied for a driver license, registered for the draft, registered for college admission, bought life insurance, applied for a marriage license, registered to vote and for everything else that needed proof of birth and citizenship.

General News

Hundreds of local senior citizens meet at the Lebanon Senior Citizens Center to play bingo, cards or pool, take dance or exercise classes and day-trips with the volunteer staff, but many still do not know the full range of benefits available at the center year-round.

People come here all the time and say they never knew what was offered here, said Teresa Hightower, assistant director of the center.